It’s a pretty disturbing statistic but in the Western world today it is believed that one in four men and women will have some sort of episode of mental illness. The diagnosis could be a nervous breakdown, a psychotic break, full blown schizophrenia and depression or bi-polar disorder. The lifestyles we lead, stress, general bad living and drug use generally bring these on. Given this statistic, there should be a manual on how to best survive it.

The prospect can be disconcerting at best, to anyone of any age, so having a handle on it can make it less disturbing. When thinking of seeking help, the biggest fear people have is men in white coats running around to the tune of, “They’re coming to take me away,” or spending time with rats in room one o’ one. But today’s wards are nothing like that at all. Really some of them can be more like Club Med with free happy pills more than anything else, with activities and plenty of rest, the odd group therapy session and an hour a day of some doctor (usually badly dressed and not in a white coat) asking you how you're feeling.

How to Admit Yourself

If you have decided you need to admit yourself, there are right ways and wrong ways to go about it. The first thing you need to do is see your regular family practitioner, someone who knows you and has a good understanding of your history. Tell them why you want to admit yourself, omitting nothing. Let them know exactly why you think you need this stay, explain all the things that are happening to you so they can make a recommendation for you to go in. This will usually mean a forewarning phone call to you local institution and a letter to take with you.

When you arrive, you will have to go through triage, usually a nurse who will ask you why you are there. This is where you hand over your letter and give a small explanation of why you think you need to see a doctor and be admitted. Unfortunately, you will need to repeat yourself quite often, but don’t try and take shortcuts by leaving things out because someone who is in the same hospital has already heard you. Every new person you speak to needs to know just exactly why you are there.

After you have been seen by the doctors they will usually leave you in an observation room if they have not just admitted you on the spot. This is not a place where you want to sit and be polite. It is best that you allow the full range of what you are thinking and feeling be expressed. Sitting back and playing nice is not your best course of action. If you are irritated, frightened, under stress or feeling or thinking any range of thought or emotion that is unpleasant for you, here you need to let them express themselves. Of course not in ways that put the staff in a fearful or unsafe position.

The next thing they will do is admit you, where you will be taken on the ward and spoken to by the admitting ward doctor. This will be the last time you need to explain yourself, but even more fully. They will also do a physical, possible ask for blood and urine and test your cognitive skills.

A stay in a ward need not be a long one. They average between a fortnight and a month (provided you haven’t been brought to the ward in only your socks after running through the mall singing “I’m Henry the Eighth.” If so the courts might have something to say). A lot of people think they should hide what they are really thinking or feeling just in case they say something that might keep them in for longer. Actually not telling the full story will keep you in longer, if those who are there to help you don’t really know what is going on and have holes in their understanding they will more likely ask you to stay till they have a clearer picture of how to provide better care for you outside.

If you have not come in on your own accord they will ask you if you are willing to undergo treatment. It is generally better to say yes. This keeps you in a voluntary status, which helps immensely at discharge time. If you are involuntary you’re a little stuck, but as a voluntary patient, after some treatment, you can ask to be discharged yourself under your own supervision and continued support of professionals and friends or family. Often times, you have a good chance of the powers-that-be agreeing. Generally compliance to treatment is a good way to go. It shows that there is a good understanding of a need for help. I remember a friend of mine running through the halls naked, pumping his first and yelling, “Screw the system.” It was very funny, but didn’t go down well.

What to Expect on the Ward

Remember that you have the right to know everything that is going on. You have the right to know what medications they are giving you. You have the right to know about any treatments they are planning on giving you, whether they be invasive or not. You have the right to not comply or give permission for any treatment and you have the right to an independent second opinion. You do not, in any way, check your basic human rights at the door. If they are asking you to pull down your pants and have something in their hands you just ask. "What, what, what? What is that, what are you going to do with it and what’s it going to do to me?"

Don’t worry about other people who are on the ward there with you. They are probably as sacred of you as you are with them. Try at all times to have a smile for the other patients. Putting up a mean front to keep the sinful away is generally counter-effective. A frown attracts the wrong type, a smile works wonders on everyone. I know this can’t always be possible given the situation. So choose one or two people you feel comfortable and click with and use each other for support. Smile at everyone and when you need to, pull your confidants aside and tell them how you’re really feeling. Sometimes other patients can be more therapeutic than a legion of doctors. On the flip side do be wary of who you associate with, most people you will meet are harmless. But be careful, as there is always an exception to the rule.

There will be many activities provided to pass the time. Join in as many as possible. They vary from anything like watching videos to painting and clay work. Most all kinds of artistic pursuits can be had. They will generally have recreation rooms with televisions and a stereo for music, sometimes table sports like billiards or ping pong, which of course will have to be shared.

Remember you will be being observed during everything you do by members of staff and have it reported so that the doctors can better assess you progress. Don’t worry about this. When you first arrive they will set regular times to do this, anywhere from every fifteen minutes to an hour. This will then change to as little as once a day.

Treatment

There are many different kinds of treatments on the ward. The main two will be seeing your assigned doctor or doctors and they will proscribe you medications. Seeing the doctor will happen about three times a week for about an hour a session. Firstly they will listen, sometimes give advice on better thinking and giving you a different perspective on your situation, but mostly they try to provide a safe and comfortable environment where their listening and prompting help one to bring oneself into a better position. Understanding achieved on one's own is longer lasting and they are also trying to help you when you are outside again by giving you the faculty of self awareness and self-restoring skills which will aid you in staying well. They will also couple this with medications.

Don’t be afraid to use medication for the time that you're inside. Really, you wouldn’t be hesitant to take antibiotics from your doctor; meds to aid a mental recover today are just as safe. They have progressed a long way since even the 1980s. Side effects are rare and generally minimal and their prognosis for a successful recovery after a short while are high. In most cases they will not be a lifetime requirement, a few months or a year at best. They also offer meds per required need, things like Valium and other such “little helpers.” When in Rome. My motto is get them while they’re on offer, they’ll soon shut down the gravy train and won’t let you abuse them. Remember, you’ve had a hard trot or you wouldn’t be there, so tune in, turn on and drop out a little. Who wouldn’t improve on a little holiday with benefits?

Enjoy Yourself

This is a little seditious but a psych ward is no maximum security prison. Getting over the wall for a little bit is no hard thing. You are generally observed a few times a day for a head count but that leaves plenty of time in between to get out and see the horizon. No one likes to be cooped up. They have organized outings for sure but a quick jaunt for an Irish coffee isn’t going to harm anyone if you’re a voluntary patient. If you stay out too long you’ll be brought back in a black and white. Most likely if you time it right, no one will miss you, if not, jokingly tell them clowns abducted you, and after making you pee in a cup all will be well with them.

If there is a stigma attached to being inside a psych ward, if some people are going to look at you a little funny, if people are going to smile and nod, let it work for you. Anyone that matters is going to understand, have fun with everyone else. You now have the perfect opportunity to do all those things you always wanted to do. Go to church in your auntie’s best dress. Go buy your groceries in your nightgown. Stand on the roof of your house and scream, “I’m on top of the world Ma.” Try to keep your sense of humor through it all. A funny bone is going to help you heal faster than anything, a book full of wisdom says: “A downcast spirit crushes the bones, but a happy spirit is health to the whole body.” Even doctors today will have to agree that this is a fact. A happy, fun finding attitude floods the mind and body with all sorts of good chemicals to cure what ails you. So sit down the back of the garden all day until some one asks you what you are doing so you can show them the fairies, then laugh about it when you are alone at night.

One in four will visit. How many are in the room with you right now? There is nothing to fear in being inside and getting rest and help. Your stay need not be long, actually it can be very beneficial and enjoyable. So get the best out of it.